Endgame toward the legalization of casino gambling

On Thursday afternoon the Japanese Diet took the penultimate step toward the legalization of casino gambling as the IR Implementation Bill was approved by the Cabinet Committee of the House of Councillors. The only step remaining is passage of the legislation through a plenary session of the House of Councillors, expected to take place on Friday.

Opposition parties led by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan played their last cards in an attempt to derail the bill. This included a “no confidence” motion against Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Keiichi Ishii and an attempt to replace Chuichi Date as chairman of the Cabinet Committee.

The ruling coalition, supported also by the Osaka-based Japan Innovation Party, voted down all of these opposition efforts.

Early on Friday the opposition is likely to resort to one final maneuver, which is to submit a “no confidence” motion against the entire Abe Cabinet within the House of Representatives. If that happens, this motion too will be defeated.

The IR Implementation Bill will then be enacted into law by the Upper House.

The extended Diet session will end on Sunday.

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